The Importance of Good Water Treatment

Scale deposits in steam boilers can cause serious problems including higher fuel use, increased maintenance and unexpected failure. The high costs associated with boiler scale highlights the importance of good water treatment to keep waterside surfaces clean. These costs can also be used to evaluate investments to improve program results. For example, the costs can be used to calculate the payback on cleaning a scaled boiler, installing more reliable softeners, or upgrading the chemical feed and blowdown control system.

Increasing Operating Life and Efficiency

In many facilities, chiller and condenser systems are the largest energy consuming component of the plant. Operating a chiller at its peak performance saves energy, as well as maintenance costs, and can keep the facility’s loads properly maintained. Chiller performance varies significantly with operating conditions, and any opportunity to improve efficiency and extended equipment life is greatly desired by any facility manager. One major indicator of chiller performance is the historical values of the chiller approach temperatures. These temperatures show the heat transfer efficiency and can be a precursor to a potential issue in the system. With proper, routine monitoring of approach temperatures, the chiller’s operating life and operating efficiency are greatly increased.

How Chem-Aqua Helps Protect your Cooling Water System

The chiller, recirculating pumps, and fans are the main energy consumers in water-cooled air conditioning systems, and chiller efficiency can have a significant impact on the amount of energy required to produce a ton of refrigeration. Effective water treatment keeps the evaporation and condenser heat exchange surfaces clean and corrosion-free. That means the water is flowing and heat is transferred such that the chiller is optimally efficient and energy costs minimized.

Cooling towers or closed loop systems require continuous treatment. But to achieve effective water treatment in either of these settings, the precise system volume must be known. This is particularly essential when adding biocides to ensure the correct amount of treatment is added. Although there are many ways to measure volumes, many are inexact and hard to execute. There are three ways typically used to determine system volumes.

Cooling Tower Systems

Dead legs in building water systems can cause severe problems, including persistent positive Legionella test results and an increased incidence of Legionnaires’ disease. Dead legs are sections of water system piping with low or no flow due to system design and/or operation. A basic understanding of dead legs, how to recognize them, and how to manage the problems they cause can help building owners reduce the risks associated with Legionella and other pathogens in their water systems. While the ideal solution is to remove the dead leg, the more realistic methods are a combination of design, operational, and maintenance strategies. Here are 7 common types of dead legs and some practical, effective methods to manage them.